Key number: 2 — Key players sitting out with injuries. No timetable is set for F Jeromie Hill's return, while G Larry Lewis will redshirt.

Key Questions

How will the Roadrunners handle the early schedule and move to Conference USA? It could be another long year for the Roadrunners. Hill's knee injury is troubling. He had been expected to be ready for the opener. Michael Hale and Kannon Burrage are gone, so that's a lot of firepower to replace right away.

What needs to happen for UTSA to finish strong in March, as Thompson's teams have been known to do? Patience is key. A team can't win a game in the postseason in November. So don't worry too much about the potential for a losing record early. Try to build some chemistry. Stay together. Keep fingers crossed that Sims and McGregor will emerge as go-to offensive threats, along with newcomers such as hard-driving Keon Lewis.

Outlook

UTSA isn't expected to be a factor in the C-USA race in its first year in the conference. The guess is that the team will finish somewhere in the lower half of the 16-member league. Without heralded freshman Larry Lewis, it leaves UTSA thin in the backcourt. Lewis is expected to be a big-time scorer someday, but that won't be until 2014-15 at the earliest.

Jerry Briggs

Saturday:
Northern Ariz. @UTSA, 7 p.m.

And while 7-foot center Kaj-Bjorn Sherman is struggling a bit, it might not be long before he starts to see significant playing time.

Eighth-year UTSA coach Brooks Thompson said he feels comfortable offering scholarships to players who have worked under North Idaho coach Jared Phay.

Hale, a spunky point guard, was UTSA's No. 2 scorer last year and produced 774 points in two seasons for the Roadrunners.

“It started with Mike Hale,” Thompson said. “The (others) knew how well we tried to take care of our players and how fair we are and how they're going to get their degree.”

McGregor was projected as a UTSA starter this fall since the end of last season, when he finished strong. Now, McGregor and Lewis might be asked to contribute even more than expected because of recent injuries.

With UTSA forward Jeromie Hill out temporarily with a knee injury, McGregor could take on more of a scoring role. Lewis likely will get heavy minutes because of an unspecified injury to freshman Larry Lewis.

Billed as one of Thompson's most talented recruits ever, Lewis (no relation to Keon) will take a redshirt year.

In what could be a rebuilding season, McGregor showed off a nice jump hook in the team's exhibition game last week.

Keon Lewis displayed a take-it-to-the-basket mentality that surely will result in some free throws.

The two even combined on an alley-oop dunk, with Lewis tossing high to McGregor for the two-handed slam.

“It's one of those easy plays,” McGregor said. “Easy plays, they make it easy on us.”